Lots of exciting stuff coming out- anyone see Moredenkainen's Magnificent emporium? in that link to pics? Already been announced prior? I had not heard of it.

Coming from someone who started in the Lizard logo days, WOTC is handling the product line more to my tastes than anyone has since 1983-ish. A "fun adventure game" emphasis, vs. "hardcore serious rpg".

Have we yet seen the details of which races will get which ability score choices?
(At the latest, those details should be in the DDI update for early October, right?)

No details afaiak, but I ain't there. But yes it should be in the DDI around Oct/Nov

Originally Posted by JeffB

Lots of exciting stuff coming out- anyone see Moredenkainen's Magnificent emporium? in that link to pics? Already been announced prior? I had not heard of it.

Coming from someone who started in the Lizard logo days, WOTC is handling the product line more to my tastes than anyone has since 1983-ish. A "fun adventure game" emphasis, vs. "hardcore serious rpg".

Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium: Each magic item has a flavorful story that goes along with it. Also includes other character options. From wizards' twitter.

Lots of exciting stuff coming out- anyone see Moredenkainen's Magnificent emporium? in that link to pics? Already been announced prior? I had not heard of it.

It appeared in the WotC Spring 2011 catalog:

Spoiler:

Few wizards know more about magic than the mighty Mordenkainen, whose arcane achievements are without peer.
He’s the Archmage of Adventure . . . and no stranger to unearthing hidden lore. Stand aside, Tenser! Back to the books, Otiluke! Few can match Mordenkainen’s collection of magic items. Still, he hardly seems the type to settle down and open a magic shop. And yet . . .

Welcome to Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium, a wondrous collection of magic items—each one with a story to tell. This tome provides Dungeon Masters with a ready assortment of treasures to tempt greedy players, along with historical nuggets and alluring adventure hooks that set these items apart from your run-of-the-mill flaming sword or bag of holding. This book adds rich flavor to the treasures and trinkets presented within, and a dash of inspiration for Dungeon Masters looking to liven up a monster’s trove. Hold on to your magic hats—everything must go!

James Wyatt is the design manager for roleplaying games at Wizards of the Coast. His most recent work includes the Dungeon Master’s Kit boxed set and the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set.

Key Selling Points
• Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium strikes an excellent balance between rules content and story content, making it a fun read as well as a practical reference book for Dungeon Masters looking to sprinkle their dungeons with tantalizing treasures.
• This book provides an alluring collection of new magic items that players will desire for their characters, along with rich background information and adventure hooks that Dungeon Masters can use to add depth or story to the campaign.
• This product will receive online support at Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page.

No details afaiak, but I ain't there. But yes it should be in the DDI around Oct/Nov

Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium: Each magic item has a flavorful story that goes along with it. Also includes other character options. From wizards' twitter.

Originally Posted by Peraion Graufalke

It appeared in the WotC Spring 2011 catalog:

Spoiler:

Few wizards know more about magic than the mighty Mordenkainen, whose arcane achievements are without peer.
He’s the Archmage of Adventure . . . and no stranger to unearthing hidden lore. Stand aside, Tenser! Back to the books, Otiluke! Few can match Mordenkainen’s collection of magic items. Still, he hardly seems the type to settle down and open a magic shop. And yet . . .

Welcome to Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium, a wondrous collection of magic items—each one with a story to tell. This tome provides Dungeon Masters with a ready assortment of treasures to tempt greedy players, along with historical nuggets and alluring adventure hooks that set these items apart from your run-of-the-mill flaming sword or bag of holding. This book adds rich flavor to the treasures and trinkets presented within, and a dash of inspiration for Dungeon Masters looking to liven up a monster’s trove. Hold on to your magic hats—everything must go!

James Wyatt is the design manager for roleplaying games at Wizards of the Coast. His most recent work includes the Dungeon Master’s Kit boxed set and the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set.

Key Selling Points
• Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium strikes an excellent balance between rules content and story content, making it a fun read as well as a practical reference book for Dungeon Masters looking to sprinkle their dungeons with tantalizing treasures.
• This book provides an alluring collection of new magic items that players will desire for their characters, along with rich background information and adventure hooks that Dungeon Masters can use to add depth or story to the campaign.
• This product will receive online support at Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page.

True, I just find this an odd direction to go with the game. Its almost as if they're admiting the design they chose was wrong. I've been happy with almost everything the edition has had to offer. Do we really need someone getting stuck with the bag of tricks again? Or under-water basket weaving skills? Most of the stuff people complained were lacking in the edition was stuff I felt was more than easily accounted for with decent role-playing skills. It just seems odd and is a little unappealing. I won't begrudge the people who felt like they needed or wanted that sort of stuff, and I'll take all the cool stuff that comes my way. This just is off-putting at first glance for someone who has really bought into the way 4th Edition works right now.

The problem is, experience has shown that there are a lot of players who will not roleplay (bold and italics aimed not at you, but said players who will not roleplay), if the rulebook doesn't tell them to roleplay and how to do it. It isn't that they don't know how to make the attempt, as I've seen them make the attempt in other systems that tell them to make the attempt and give them rules about it. Even the existence of rules that they think are "dumb, and easily exploitable" prompts them to roleplay "better than the rules", while the absence of rules makes them sit there like a bump on a log. Gamers are bizarre creatures and I pity whoever has to develop products for them.

I've literally heard players when they get called on randomly killing npcs because they looked at them wrong, justify it by saying "well, despite all your logical reasons why this would be a 'bad and insane thing', you have to accept that this is still D&D". Which to them was the most compelling argument in the world, and was convincing to half the table, while the other half of the table stood their with their mouths open in shock.

Especially because it has been my observation that these very same players will rake 4E over the coals for being a combat game that tells you how to play your character and won't let you have any originality.

I don't think they are admitting their design and direction of 4E was wrong. It was a perfect design for players who will think of their characters as a persona driven by their background and own internal reasoning. I think they are admitting that too many players can't handle being entrusted with doing the roleplaying aspect of the game for themselves.

So for those players that have difficulty conceptualizing the idea of saying "hey GM, my character is a blacksmith because it is part of my character's identity" and the GM saying "cool beans, when you want to do something blacksmithy, I'll give you a DC that takes that into account". They are apparently going to give material to guide their thought process. Which experience has shown me is actually needed for a lot of players.

This upcoming year is going to be a great time for 4e fans. Everything I saw in this thread is something I want, which is great. I can't wait. I think the excitement might kill me. Like someone said earlier, I feel like I am waiting for Santa to come down the old chimney.